Intech Investment Management LLC Buys 51,112 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 546,791 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,112 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.4% of Intech Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $275,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,534.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,258,362.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $561.35 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $507.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $497.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $564.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.